3 
January, 1919 
t3l)e Slower (Brower 
the tweezers, labels, pencils and record book. 
You should also have a light stool of cypress 
wood, which stands the weather. A good 
form is to be seen in the Figure 8 which is a 
general view of part of an Iris garden of the 
size recommended, taken toward the end of 
the crossing season, and showing the labels, 
the developing pods, and the stakes to which 
the seed bearing stalks are tied. This should 
always be done each day as soon as a plant 
is crossed, as otherwise the tall stalks are 
likely to get broken. Observe the hole in the 
top of the stool for the hand, and the band at 
the bottom connecting the legs, preventing 
them from sinking into the soft earth. Now 
having everything ready, like Uncle William, 
when he built his chimney, place the stool 
near the flower to be crossed, and sit in a 
comfortable position (for it is well to take 
life easy! from which the stigmas can be 
reached, without touching them except with 
the pollen. Next break off the three erect 
segments of the perianth, leaving only the 
three stigmas, as in Figure 6. The flower is 
now entirely prepared for crossing. Break 
off one of the drooping segments from a 
flower to be used as a male. Grasp the 
anther, thus exposed, with the tweezers, and 
break the stem. Apply the anther to a 
stigma between the lips L in the cut, with 
the pollen surface next to the lower lip. 
Gently wipe off the pollen onto this lower 
lip then draw the anther, and repeat the 
operation, with one of the other two anthers 
of the flower used as a male and the two 
remaining stigmas of that used as a female. 
In the directions usually given for cross- 
ing, you will find a brush is to be used in 
handling pollen. If you wish your records 
to be of value avoid this method, for if you 
employ it you will soon get a mixture of 
pollens; moreover, the pollen grains should 
touch nothing except the sensitive surfaces 
of the stigmas. As the sperms in pollen 
grains are not equally vigorous, it is best to 
apply many to each stigma. They should be 
only from strong selected plants with perfect 
flowers and well developed anthers. Discard 
any flower having even one imperfect an- 
ther, or in which the anthers are increased 
in number. Pollen is said to retain its 
vitality for some time. So do old men, but 
young fellows get the strongest children, so 
use your pollen fresh ; as 
quickly as possible after it 
is ripe. 
Apply it only to the 
stigmas of perfect flowers, 
growing on strong plants, 
and as soon as the erect 
segments of the perian h 
have expanded to the posi- 
tion shown in Figure 5 — 
that is on recently opened 
flowers. If you want to 
use the pollen from an 
early flowering kind on 
one that blossoms late, 
grow the former on a north 
slope, and where it will re- 
ceive direct sunlight for 
only five hours a day. The 
flowers will then be coming 
at a time when those of 
the same variety on a south 
slope exposed to sun all 
day will be passing. 
For an old girdener 
whose hearing is failing 
these small clearings in 
the forest for retarding 
Iris, or for preventing stray 
pollen from reaching the 
experiment patches of 
maize, as recommended in 
an earlier letter, have a 
charm. They bring him so 
near the forest birds he 
can hear their voices. The 
songs of the hermit thrush 
and the vireos form an 
accompaniment to his work, reminding him 
of the time when his whole world seemed to 
be “ one glad sweet song.” 
(To be continued.) 
The Glorious Japanese Iris. 
This valuable contribution to the Iris 
family differs in form and in the time and 
length of its season of bloom from most 
other sorts of Iris. There are both single 
and double flowering varieties, and they 
show a marvelous range in their coloring, 
blending delicately from snow white to a 
royal purple and a deep rich 
plum color. Their blooming 
season being later than the 
ordinary varieties, the flowers 
come at a time when there is 
a dearth of bloom in the gar- 
den, making them doubly wel- 
come and desirable for cutting 
and other decorative purposes. 
The plants can be readily 
propagated from seeds or from 
divisions of the old clumps ; 
the seedlings usually bloom- 
ing the third year after sowing. 
In planting roots, place them 
from eight to ten inches apart 
in rich, moist soil, and about 
as deep as they were before 
transplanting (with the crown 
quite near the surface). Re- 
setting can be done, with suc- 
cess, at any time during the 
growing season, provided it is 
done early enough to give the 
plants an opportunity to be- 
come well rooted before frost. 
Though the Japanese Iris will 
thrive when exposed to full 
sunlight, a situation in which 
there is some protection from 
the rays of the sun during the 
hottest part of the day, is 
likely to give the best results. 
Once well established in 
suitable environment Iris 
Kaempferi will multiply and 
bloom profusely ; a strong 
clump, oftentimes, sending 
up from 10 to 12 flower stalks, crowned 
with a cluster of magnificent blossoms, each 
from six to seven inches across. 
By dividing and re-setting the roots occa- 
sionally and not permitting weeds and grass 
to encroach upon it, a bed of Iris Kaempferi 
will last a lifetime— “ a thing of beauty” 
and “ a joy forever.” — Bertha Berbert 
Hammond in The Rural New Yorker. 
Electrical Treatment of Seeds. 
The English press is manifesting consid- 
erable interest at present in the question of 
the application of electricity to agriculture 
as a means of increasing the supply of home 
grown food-stuffs. Experiments which have 
been going on for some years in England 
have clearly demonstrated that the use of 
an electric discharge has a marked effect on 
crop production. The subject has lately 
been brought to the fore by Charles Mercier, 
who, writing to the London Times, states 
that “great and startling improvements in 
agriculture are on the point of being intro- 
duced,” and says that a method has been 
devised to overcome the difficulty of ex- 
pense of electrification, as applied to both 
the growing crops and the seed before it is 
sown. Installations at which farmers can 
have their seeds treated by experts have 
been erected at several centers, and are 
capable of treating some 30,000 sacks per 
month. The increase of yield from seed so 
treated, though not so great as the increase 
from electrification of the growing crops, is 
stated to be considerable, ranging from 25% 
to as much as 80%.— Scientific American. 
The Oldest Rose Garden in America. 
At Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hud- 
son, New York, is a Rose garden, yet pros- 
perous and lovely, which has been in ex- 
istence for more than a hundred years. The 
old loophole pierced manor house bears 
authentic date of “A. D. 1681.” 
Great Rose bushes are there in the garden, 
covered in June with myriads of old time 
Centifolia, Damask and other Roses of 
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in- 
cluding the York and Lancaster Rose. — Ameri- 
can Rose Annual. 
